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Full-Text Articles in Urban Studies and Planning

Pernicious Problems Of Housing Finance, Michael E. Stone Dec 2005

Pernicious Problems Of Housing Finance, Michael E. Stone

Michael E. Stone

This article traces the evolution of the housing finance system in the U.S., with particular attention to changes from the 1960s through the early 2000s. The paper shows the trends to increasing risk taking by lenders and households, predicting the collapse of the mortgage system in the mid 2000s.


Housing Affordability: One-Third Of A Nation Shelter-Poor, Michael E. Stone Dec 2005

Housing Affordability: One-Third Of A Nation Shelter-Poor, Michael E. Stone

Michael E. Stone

The chapter examines the housing affordability problem in the U.S. through the lens of the shelter poverty concept. "Shelter poverty" challenges the conventional view that a household can reasonably afford up to a certain percent of income -- currently thirty percent -- for housing without hardship. It offers instead a sliding scale that takes into account differences in household composition and income in determining how much reasonably can be afforded for housing without compromising non-shelter necessities. Following a discussion of conceptual and methodological issues around housing affordability, the chapter summarizes the contours of housing affordability in the U.S. at the …


What Is Housing Affordability? The Case For The Residual Income Approach, Michael E. Stone Dec 2005

What Is Housing Affordability? The Case For The Residual Income Approach, Michael E. Stone

Michael E. Stone

This article seeks to increase the awareness of and support for the residual income approach to housing affordability indicators and standards, especially in the United States. It begins with an overview of various semantic, substantive, and definitional issues relating to the notion of affordability, leading to an argument supporting the conceptual soundness of the residual income approach. The concept is then briefly set into the historical context of U.S. and British debates on affordability measures. This description is followed by a discussion of two of the principal issues involved in crafting an operational residual income standard: the selection of a …